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Wives and daughters

Gaskell, Elizabeth, 1810-18651996
Books, Manuscripts
When seventeen-year-old Molly Gibson's widowed father remarries, her life is turned upside down by the arrival of her vain, manipulative stepfather. She also acquires an intriguing new stepsister, Cynthia, glamorous, sophisticated and irresistible to every man she meets. The two girls begin to confide in one another and Molly soon finds herself a go-between in Cynthia's love affairs - but in doing so risks losing both her own reputation and the man she secretly loves. Set in English society before the 1832 Reform Bill, Elizabeth Gaskell's last novel - considered to be her finest - demonstrates an intelligent and compassionate understanding of human relationships, and offers a witty, ironic critique of mid-Victorian society. This text is based on the 1866 Cornhill Magazine version of the novel. It also includes notes on textual variants between this edition and the original manuscript, a note on the story's ending and an introduction discussing the novel's challenging investigation of themes of Englishness, Darwinism and masculine authority.
Main title:
Wives and daughters / Elizabeth Gaskell.
Edition:
New ed.
Imprint:
London : Penguin, 1996.
Collation:
xxxv,679p : facsim. ; 20 cm.
Series title:
Notes:
Originally published: 1866.Bibliography: pxxxii-xxxiii.
ISBN:
014043478X9780140434781
Dewey class:
823.8CL
Local class:
FClassicsFIC
Language:
English
BRN:
324815
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